Wednesday, September 19, 2012

For those of us who were growing up in the 90's Fiona Apple will always hold a special place in our hearts. When I heard she was playing SXSW this year my heart lept and I vowed to stand in whatever line I had to for as long as I needed to, to see her. Her performance definitely lived up to my expectations in March. She was obviously nervous and not very comfortable on stage, especially during the parts on the songs that she didn't have anything to sing or play. She doesn't command the audience's attention and make you bask in the power of her ego. What she does is bare her soul. She seems incredibly vulnerable as she sings and you can tell that she feels every word that comes out of her mouth. She played songs that spanned her entire career, with a heavy helping of songs from her 2012 release, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do.

If you're not a fan of Fiona, seeing her live performance probably won't change your mind but if you felt like she was the only person who understood you in High School then you can't miss your chance to see her tomorrow night. Fiona Apple will take to the stage at ACL Live Thursday night and there are still some tickets available. It is a highly rare opportunity to see her perform so don't assume you'll catch her next time she's in Austin.

Fiona Apple - Every Single Night video via YouTube
Playing the support slot tomorrow night, will be Fiona Apple's touring guitarist Blake Mills. Blake is only 25 years old but has already established himself as one of the best session musicians working on the west coast. He has sat in with Dawes, Lucinda Williams, Cass McCombs and many others. He has already performed on Conan and with this Fiona Apple tour under his belt, his star is sure to rise. His latest record is called Break Mirrors and features some really great personal singer-songwriter stuff in the vein of Eliot Smith through a slightly Americana filter. He'll take the stage around 8pm tomorrow with Fiona following around 9:15p.